Photo Gallery: Lightning

Lightning Panorama

Photograph by Ingram Publishing/Getty Images

Bolts of lightning descend like tentacles from a storm-roiled sky. Benjamin Franklin discovered in 1752 that lightning is actually electricity. In his now-famous experiment, he sent a kite with a metal key tied to the string up into a thunderstorm. Sparks leaping from the key confirmed his hunch about lightning.

Texas Thunderstorm

Photograph by Scott M. Lieberman, Associated Press

Lightning flashes within a cloud near Tyler, Texas. Cloud-to-cloud lightning is one of the most common types; it travels between positive- and negative-charged areas of clouds.

Groton, Connecticut

Photograph by Todd Gipstein, National Geographic

Bolts of lightning flash in the night during a thunderstorm in Groton, Connecticut. The myth that lightning doesn't strike the same place twice is just that—a myth. If enough charge remains after an initial lightning strike, another bolt can follow the same path, causing the flickering effect seen in some lightning strikes.

Volcano-Cloud Lightning

Photograph by Steve and Donna O'Meara, National Geographic

Volcanic lightning is rare, and lightning between thunderstorms and ash clouds even more so. In this photo, taken in May 2009, lightning flashes between a thunderstorm and the eruption plume from Rabaul volcano on New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea.

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New Mexico Lightning

Photograph by Mark Wilson, Roswell Daily Record/AP

Lightning erupts from a purple cloud over Roswell, New Mexico.

Forked Lightning Bolt

Photograph by Thomas Allen, Digital Vision/Getty Images

Mother Nature paints an electric-blue sky with a bold twist of lightning. Lightning and thunder occur simultaneously, but because light travels faster than sound, we see lightning first. Count the seconds between a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder and divide by five to estimate how far away in miles the storm is. Divide by three for kilometers.

Lightning and Giraffe

Photograph by Gerard Fritz, Getty Images

Cloud-to-cloud lightning illuminates the silhouette of a giraffe and trees. Central Africa has the most lightning activity in the world.

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Lightning Over Miami

Photograph by Brian Hightower, Your Shot

Lightning branches out between clouds over nighttime Miami, Florida.

Lightning Strikes the Big Apple

Photograph by Gregory Kramer, Getty Images  

White lightning strikes between two buildings in New York City. Lightning often strikes a high point in a given area, whether it is a tall building or a person, but not necessarily the tallest thing around, as shown in this photo.

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Connecticut Lightning

Photograph by Dana Lovallo, My Shot

Cloud-to-cloud lightning lights up the night sky over a small town in Connecticut.

Chimney Rock, Colorado

Photograph by James L. Amos, National Geographic

A horizontal bolt of lightning tries to lasso Chimney Rock, also called Jackson Butte, in Colorado.

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Lightning at Night, Walton, Nebraska

Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic

Whips of lightning crack the sky near rural Walton, Nebraska. Because a flash of lightning is actually multiple strokes that occur in a fraction of a second, time exposure photographs like this best capture these rapid-fire displays.

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Twilight Lightning

Photograph by Raymond Gehman, National Geographic

Lightning crackles between clouds in the distance off the coast of the Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia.

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Guangzhou, China

Photograph by Associated Press  

A bolt of lightning streaks behind the Guangzhou International Finance Center in Guangzhou, China.

Sante Fe Trail

Photograph by Bruce Dale, National Geographic

A branch of orange lightning strikes the ground under red-tinged clouds at night along the Sante Fe trail.

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Vinales Valley, Cuba

Photograph by Taylor S. Kennedy, National Geographic

Lightning streaks across the sky over Vinales Valley, Cuba. Lightning can travel up to 93,000 miles (150,000 kilometers) per second and reach temperatures of 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (30,000 degrees Celsius), more than four times hotter than the surface of the sun.